Some folks are complaining that CAPTAIN MARVEL #13 is an anti-Bush tract since it involves an alien race invading another world to rid them of an oppressive government, and then refusing to leave and not comprehending the natives’ lack of gratitude.
So presumably the invading race is the Bush administration (since in the preceding thousands of years of human history, no group has ever invaded another nation and refused to leave), and the opposing views in the book would presumably be mine. Just me out to make Bush look bad.
What no one comments upon is that the “opposing views” are presented by an individual who many would describe as an alien homicidal terrorist lunatic. Yes, the character presenting “my” opinions is a raging nutcase who believes he’s a god.
Well, hey…write what you know…
PAD
• 
After reading issue 13, it is clear to me that the issue is not about the Iraq invasion at all. The alien king is not Bush at all, he is Ariel Sharon, and his country is Isreal occupying the Palestinians. PAD is obviously advocating the destruction of Isreali settlements in Gaza and the West Bank and the formation of a Palestinian state. Bravo, Mr. David. This stance takes courage.
Ah, but I love subtle political commentary. No offense.
Ben
Call me strange, but the first thing I thought of when I read Captain Marvel #13 was the British empire. They did exactly as the story in Captain Marvel told: “Liberated” a country from its primitive and violent ways, took permanent control of its government, and then wondered why its people were less than grateful.
**Correct me if I’m wrong, but Rick isn’t an alien homicidal terrorist lunatic/raging nutcase who believes he’s a god, so that argument falls apart.
Okay, you’re wrong, and I’ll correct you. The following exchange apparently went right past you:“RICK : Should I be at all concerned that I’m on the same wavelength with you on this?
MARV: Why would that concern you, Rick?
RICK : Well, because usually the stuff you do creeps me out. But this time out, I’m feeling like…it’s pretty cool. Even fun.
MARV: So?
RICK: So..are these my thoughts?
RICK: Or should I be worried that you’re…I dunno…doing something to me? Acquiring some kind of additional influence over me?
MARV : Riiiiick Rick Rick. I wouldn’t worry about it at all.
( Rick has a pleasant, beatific expression)
MARV : Okay?
RICK : Oooookay.”
See, it saddens me that I can be THAT OBVIOUS and it still goes past readers.
People are so obsessed going back and forth about “Is this Peter attacking Bush?” that they totally miss the point. Was the story INSPIRED by current events? Certainly. But is it ABOUT current events? No. It’s about the fact that people never learn. Oh, they may SAY they learn. They give lip service to it. But they don’t really. And then the same šhìŧ happens all over again, just as Santayana said. And you can drop that point into just about any period of mankind’s history and it’s still salient. Saying it’s me attacking Bush is far too myopic an interpretation.
PAD
Personally, to deviate for a moment to the JLA storyline points, I’ve always wondered why someone didn’t write the story where Superman flies in and pulls Hussein out of Iraq in ten seconds. I seem to recall reading multiple stories from the 40’s with Superman toppling Hitler. I mean, it got to the point where the SS was rebutting Superman comics.
I guess I’m making the point that people have been writing comic books based on current affairs since people have been writing comic books.
Personally, to deviate for a moment to the JLA storyline points, I’ve always wondered why someone didn’t write the story where Superman flies in and pulls Hussein out of Iraq in ten seconds.
Shortly after the Man of Steel reboot in 1986, Marv Wolfman wrote an arc in Adventures of Superman that featured Superman getting hands-on with the DCU terrorist nation of Qurac. It’s been long enough that I don’t recall the details, but I seem to vaguely recall Superman taking out much of Qurac’s military hardware with little difficulty.
Does it strike anyone as ironic that, back when Peter was writing the Hulk, the Hulk was involved with a para-military group dedicated to regime changes?
The occupation of Iraq is an issue that confuses me simply because I see so many sides of it.
Is it dangerous that one nation takes it upon itself to set policy for another? Absolutely. Are Bush’s motivations vague, his comments elliptical, his rationalizations murky? You bet. Was Hussein an active threat to the United States? Debateable (although probably not for lack of trying — but any reasonable person would see North Korea as a more active threat, not to mention the Wile E. Coyote-like durability of Osama Bin Laden).
But are any of us sorry that Saddam Hussein is (relatively speaking) gone? Do any of us think that Iraq is now worse off under American occupation? Hardly.
Comic book readers, moreso than most, should appreciate the irony that we enjoy stories of fictional characters who use their powers to do what they, and so many others, perceive to be what is morally right, things not being done by others in authority because of legal conflicts or protocol manners, but yet we can be so indignant when such a proactive stance is used by someone in the real world. How often have we mused, when seeing misery and suffering, that someone should act to remove people from power when they are so blatantly abusing it?
Instead of using myth and misperception, Bush may have been a lot better off if he had just said, “Look, you know and I know that Hussein is a lunatic. Let’s just take him out.”
It’s so strange that we hold America to one set of standards (and rightly so) and yet we are so afraid to hold the rest of the world up to that same standard for the fear of seeming arrogant and close-minded.
That being said, I think one of the greatest failings of the Iraq invasion is the same one being practiced by radical terrorists throughout the world — being so blinded by hatred for a particular regime, believing that, at any cost, that regime must fall, without being prepared with a replacement. Unless we’re talking about something extremely horrendous, a bad regime is better than the anarchy that comes from having no administration at all. And if Bush had spent the proportionate amount of time with his political advisors regarding post-Saddam Iraq as was necessary with his military advisors in pre-Saddam Iraq, he would have recognized just how much work would have been ahead of him.
Heh, was this a story about current events? Of course it was.
Was it well written political satire? Of course it was. What can I say, I loved it, my wife who rarely reads comic books, loved it. Guys at work who rarely if ever read comic books, loved it.
All that’s left to say is more please!
Does it strike anyone as ironic that, back when Peter was writing the Hulk, the Hulk was involved with a para-military group dedicated to regime changes?
And interestingly, not one person ever called my politics into question. Write a four year arc about a para-military group who does whatever the hëll they want through force of arms, and no one blinks. Write one story which features the idea that doing whatever the hëll you want because you can might not be such a good notion, and watch people announce they’ll never read my work again.
Which would seem to indicate that liberals don’t get as worked up about funny books as conservatives, or that times have changed. Or both.
PAD
Wow!
When I wrote my opinion back a few, I never expected such a response, which, by the way, was the whole purpose of writing it.
Just really wanted to see how many people I got peaved.
Normally I just ghost these board, and don’t say anything, but with the way everyone was acting a behaving towards the captain marvel story.
Well I just felt really left out, and decided to write something to get the blood boiling in all who read it.
Looks like I did good.
So now, as Def Leppard said, I will fade away, into the night…….
Morgan
I didn’t enjoy the book, not because of its political content, but because it didn’t tell me much about the main character or the single supporting cast member who appeared. The only part that I felt advanced the overall story was a single page where we are shown that Genis is manipulating Rick. It felt more like a fill-in with a subplot idea taking over the entire issue.
For my $2.99, this was disappointing.
I haven’t read the issue in question, but I will. My only comment is that if people recognize the story as concerning Bush and company, then it must be because they think what the story says is true. Otherwise, they wouldn’t think it was about Bush, right?
I find being ‘narrow-minded’ to be a healthy quality in the human mind.
‘Open-minded’ people are inconsistent, non-constant, people who bounce from idea to idea without a solid grip on a singular belief.
The worst-case scenario for ‘open-mindedness’ are those who play fast and loose with traffic laws.
The most literal scenario for ‘open-mindedness’ is the gullible human being. The more open-minded someone is, the more likely he or she is to believe just about anything you tell them, true or not.
So I think ‘narrow-mindedness’ is an excellent quality to have. My beliefs in God are inherently narrow-minded, as I won’t accept the notion of another Creator who plays by different rules. If I was open-minded… I’d possibly be dámņëd.
Now, narrow-minded people who believe different things than me have the greatest potential to bug the crap out of me. But it’s better than being a blanke slate and/or easily turned.
Mind you, the narrow-minded folk who accuse me of bigotry, I dislike them considerably.
CJA
Just went through, what, 60 some posts and I cannot believe how many seemed taken aback Pad would allow his own politics to influence his writing. He`s a writer and runs with his inspiration. It`s how he makes a living, get over it. Folks, don`t be suprised and don`t let him tell you different but hey, if you don`t like it don`t read it!
We`re all political creatures of sorts and those that deny it are simply liars.
Test, please ignore
Test, please ignore
“Wow, and here I thought fiction was about telling a story to entertain readers.
Posted by Andrew Timson @ 09/09/2003 01:23 PM ET “
Hey, books don’t write themselves, you know.
fbgfdhgfhxg